Hope When It HurtsMinta

"Changing for the Better" The marathon runner perseveres in her training in order to someday finish a grueling 26.2 mile race. The hesitant child presses on through eating her vegetables because she knows there is chocolate ice cream sitting in the freezer. Perseverance is rooted in hope. We persevere when we believe that what awaits us is worth the fight. After traversing the realities of earthly trouble in his letter to the Corinthians, showing how the hope of the gospel transforms a Christian’s hurts, Paul’s conclusion is simply this: “We do not lose heart.” Jesus has risen and will bring us into his presence! Our hope in Christ is secure and unshakeable. The One who awaits us in glory is well worth the fight to get there. But Paul’s eyes are not only on the future. He knows that this fight of faith is accomplishing something else of great worth along the way: the renewing of our inner self, even while our outer self is wasting away. His point is this: that suffering changes us, for the better, right now. There comes a moment for most marathon runners when they realize they will make it, because they realize their training has done what they planned—turned them into real endurance runners. Well, what rejoicing there is when we realize that our faith is indeed genuine and gospel-fueled, and that the Holy Spirit is producing Christ-like character in us! When the road goes uphill, when our faith feels weak but proves strong enough, when we see the Spirit changing us bit by bit along the way, we realize: We are justified! We do have peace with God. We can and we will enjoy access to his grace! Our hope is real. This is how you rejoice even during—and perhaps especially during—times of suffering. “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Suffering changes our outer self—it scars; it pains; it reshapes; it breaks. Look at the outer self and you will lose heart. But Paul doesn’t—because he looks elsewhere. The road of suffering changes our inner self too, as we cling to the gospel and the Spirit goes to work. That’s where you must look.